taken 10 years ago, near to Lochmaben, Dumfries And Galloway, Great Britain

Red-legged partridge chicks

The partridge & its mate had been regular visitors for some time. On this particular morning the female appeared, this time accompanied by 11 chicks! See also NY0981 : Red-legged partridge with chicks. We reckoned they must have hatched very recently. That morning there was a thunderstorm, with torrential driving rain. We were very worried about them during the rainstorm, as the paths were flooded within a couple of minutes, but after it had dried up the mother & chicks all reappeared safe and sound. In this picture, the mother partridge had gone underneath the vegetation, where we think the nest may have been.

The red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) is a game bird belonging to the pheasant family, and is usually seen in groups in open fields. It was introduced to the UK from continental Europe. When disturbed, it prefers to run rather than fly, but will fly for a short distance if necessary. It nests on the ground, and these chicks were lucky to survive the very wet weather.